Child Poverty in Middlesbrough

1. Child Poverty in Middlesbrough Members’ Policy Conference 14th January 2009

2. Agenda • National context and government policy • Child poverty in Middlesbrough • Child poverty and other indicators • Current strategies on child poverty • What next? • Questions and discussion

3. National context • Britain has always been an unequal society • Social change and the political policies of the 1980s exacerbated inequality • lower taxes and deregulation led to greater income and wealth for some • long term unemployment and low paid jobs led to increased poverty for others • 1979 – 1 in 7 children were in poverty • 1992 – 1 in 3 children were in poverty • New Labour continued the economic policies of Thatcherism, but also made a commitment to end child poverty

4. Current government policy on child poverty • Initial commitment by the Labour government was made in 1999 to half the rate by 2010 and eradicate child poverty by 2020 • Headline measure, against which official targets have been set, is based on relative low income with the official cash poverty line set at 60% of current national average income – currently £346 p.w. for couple with two children • Latest year’s figures for 2006/07 show UK child poverty level at 2.9 million, down 500,000 from 3.4 million in 1998/99 • Despite the decrease by 0.5 million, the number has increased by 200,000 in past two years

5. Child Poverty Bill • The Government set out its long term strategy in Ending Child Poverty: Everybody’s Business, published in March 2008 • The Child Poverty Bill was highlighted in the Queen’s Speech in 2008 • It will enshrine in law the commitment to end child poverty by 2020 • In progress, subject to consultation – legislation to be introduced in 2009 • Key aspect will include Government task force to support local authorities to increase take up of tax credits and benefits

6. End Child Poverty campaign • One in three children are currently living in poverty in the UK, one of the highest rates in the industrialised world. • Poverty can have a profound impact on the child, their family, and the rest of society. It often sets in motion a deepening spiral of social exclusion, creating problems in education, employment, mental and physical health and social interaction. • While progress towards the halfway target in 2010 is slow, the Government must be commended for putting forward legislation to enshrine the target of ending child poverty by 2020 in law.

7. Poverty in Middlesbrough • Child poverty level based on unofficial measure of relative low income ‘where no-one is working more than 16 hours a week or the family is in receipt of WFTC’ • Apart from inner London, the north-east has highest rate of child poverty in England (28%), equivalent to 140,000 children • Middlesbrough has the second highest rate in north east • Data published in September 2008 stated that 35% of children in Middlesbrough parliamentary constituency were living in poverty • In some parts of the town child poverty level is as high as 65%

8. Local Government headline measure • Local Authority measure of child poverty included in National Indicator data-set (NI 116) is based on, ‘the percentage of children living in households where no one is working’ • Latest year’s figures for 2006/07 show the rate for Middlesbrough at 32%, compared to 20% nationally • Equivalent to 6,437 children when considered as a proportion of current school age population (children aged 5-16) • When children aged 0-4 are included (2,936), the overall number of children in poverty increases to 9,373 • Within Middlesbrough, wards with highest numbers of children living in poverty include Gresham (1,011), Thorntree (995), Park End (886), North Ormesby and Brambles Farm (741) and Pallister (670)

9. Numbers of children in poverty in Middlesbrough wards (Number of children living in households where no-one is working)

10. Geographical distribution of child poverty in Middlesbrough • Tight-knit cluster, mainly in the north-east, all sharing a common boundary • Characterised by entrenched, generational poverty • Same geographical pattern emerges for other ‘proxy’ measures of child poverty

11. Other measures of child poverty: families on benefits & Free School Meals

12. Every Child Matters outcomes - Enjoy and achieve (GCSEs) • Confirms what we know … children from poorer areas do worse at school • In terms of educational attainment (GCSE 5+ A*-C) wards with lowest rates are the same as wards with highest rates of child poverty

14. Enjoy and achieve – Key Stages 1, 2, and 3

15. Other Every Child Matters outcomes Be healthy Stay safe Achieve economic well-being Under 18 conceptions Overall crimes (per 1,000 pop) Not in Employment, Education or Training

16. Reducing Child Poverty in Middlesbrough • Children and Young People’s Trust • Children and Young People’s Plan • Mayor’s Youth Agenda • Children’s Centres and Sure Start settings

17. Children and Young People’s Trust • Local partnership bringing together organisations responsible for services for children, young people and families • Responsible for turning central government vision into reality (National Children's Plan) • Delivering the Every Child Matters outcomes • Shared commitment to improving children's lives • Work closely with partners with a statutory ‘duty to cooperate’ and other key partners including voluntary and community sectors • Undertaking review of priorities to reflect child poverty

18. Children and Young People’s Plan Key Priorities contributing to reducing child poverty: • Be Healthy • Increase take up of school meals • Implementation of Parenting Strategy • Embed the social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) across all schools • Stay Safe • Undertake a review of thresholds between children in need and children at risk • Continue with the Families First approach to supporting families with drug and alcohol misusing parents • Increase the number of adoptions and permanency orders

19. Children and Young People’s Plan • Enjoy and Achieve • Implement phase 3 of Children's Centre programme that will extend the reach and range of services available locally for families • Increase the quality, choice and provision of adult education opportunities with an emphasis on improving literacy and numeracy skills that will enable parents to support their children's learning • Implement ICAN Early Talk Programme to improve communication and language skills for early years children • Make a Positive Contribution • Extend outreach work with those parents who find it difficult to engage with services • Identify and engage with young people ‘at risk’ of offending by broadening the range and reach of preventative work • Expand volunteering opportunities

20. Children and Young People’s Plan • Achieve Economic Well-being • Provide support to homeless young people, which will help them move towards independent living and employment • Ensure all 16 and 17 year olds have an agreed destination, with additional support for vulnerable young people • Children's Centres and extended schools within most deprived wards offering comprehensive support form Job Centre Plus, Welfare Benefits, family learning and child care • Vulnerable Groups • Increase short break opportunities for disabled children, young people and their families • Increase the number of care leavers in employment, education or training and in suitable accommodation • Increase attainment and attendance levels for vulnerable groups

21. Mayor’s Youth Agenda Aims • Children should be able to escape the cycle of disadvantage, which often begins at birth • Primary school children should remain motivated to succeed as they move into secondary school • Teenagers at risk of poor outcomes should receive the support they need to realise their potential

22. Children’s Centres and Sure Start Settings • Benefit and credit information and improving take up • Affordable, flexible and accessible childcare • Promoting employment as an option and raising aspirations • Improving healthy living • Working with colleagues from housing services to support families of young children • Supporting parents, including lone parents and teenage parents, to develop self-esteem & self-confidence • Life skills and key skills • Engaging with families who don’t typically engage with statutory services

23. Children’s Centres and Sure Start Settings • Courses and pathways for parents through volunteering and part time work into more full time training and employment • Supporting parents in their child’s early development – helping children be ready for learning when they enter school • Families Information Service and Community Centres signposting parents to support services • Two year pilot – free childcare for targeted families on benefits • Extending nursery entitlement to enable more parents to return to training and / or work • Supporting parents of children caught up in anti-social or criminal behaviour.

24. What next? • Involvement in regional developments • research project • task and finish members’ group • North East Improvement & Efficiency Partnership – region-wide collaborative and innovative projects • Children’s Trust to make child poverty the key focus of its activities • Development of a ‘Child Poverty Pledge’, with commitments and an action plan which all council departments and partners will be invited to sign up to

25. Questions and discussion